18?6.] S. Kurz — A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Nicobar Islands. 113 



palum scrobieulatmn and P. flexuosum, Panicum colonum, Isachne miliacea 

 var. humilis, Arundo Poxburghii (usually occupying whole tracts where 

 it occurs), Geratopteris thalictroides, Acrostichum aureum here and there, 

 Plechnum orientale, Friocaulon longifolium, Smithia sensitiva, Jussicea 

 villosa, Adenostema viscosmn var. elatum, PZygrophila salieifolia, Limno- 

 phila hirsuta, Gonostegia hirta, Pouzolzia Indica, and several others. 

 Lygodium scandens and L. pinnatifidwm are occasionally met with in the long 

 grass. Small as these valleys are and often separated only by a low rounded 

 ridge, they have often certain species entirely peculiar to themselves and 

 recurring nowhere else. Such plants as I found only once or twice (but then 

 often in quantity) are Polygala leptalea, Grotalaria calycina and G. sericea, 

 Plumeaflava, Utricularia diandra, Dysopliylla auricularia, Golocasia virosa 

 in large quantity, along with Nephrodmm propinquv/m, Isachne myosotis and 

 another species (of the habit of Panicum miliar e), Poly podium longissimum, 

 Helminthostachys Zeylanica, Pimbristylis diphylla var. villosa, P. nutans, and 

 F. globulosa, Phynchospora flicaulis, Scleria lateriflora, Gyrtopera fusca, 

 Thrixspermum amplexicaule, Plyxa Roxburghii, and Aneilema ensifolium. 



The shrubbery, more developed at the outskirts of the tropical forests 

 is scanty on these heaths and very poor in species, consisting chiefly of 

 Pittosporum ferrugineum, Polyphragmon flavescens, and Eugenia claviflora 

 (these three reduced to mere shrubs), Melastonia Malabathricum and a small 

 procumbent form of it, Helicteres obtusa, Pubus Moluccanus, Blumea 

 balsamifera (locally), Vitex negundo (rare), and an impoverished condition 

 of Gmelina asiatica. 



The trees are very scattered, and none of them exceed 30 feet in height. 

 The bulk consists of Fagraea racemosa, Aporosa glabrifolia, Antidesma 

 Ghaesembilla, and Pandanus odoratissimus, the last more along the swampy 

 valleys and in them. Gasuarina equisetifolia is seen, especially on the north- 

 ern part of Kamorta. A stiff Dendrobium, a few ferns, as Polypodhwn 

 adnascens, Davallia solida, D.parallela, etc., as also Dischidia nummular ia and 

 D. Bengalensis, are the chief, if not the only, epiphytes. Here and there one 

 meets with small patches which have evidently been under cultivation at 

 some time, as is indicated by the cucurbits {Penincasa cerifera, Lagenaria 

 vulgaris, Gucumis utilissima, Momordica and Gitrullus) that are still to 

 be seen growing on them. 



5. Marine Vegetation. 

 Katchall and Kamorta, the two islands which I had an opportunity of 

 exploring, though separated from one another only by a narrow but deep 

 channel about 8 miles broad, present very different shores : the former is 

 encircled by fringing coral-reefs, while the latter is nearly free from them ; 

 the large amount of muddy deposit formed by the action of the sea upon 

 15 



